Library Research
When your character is presented with a library he may wish to use to either research or look to see what information is available there. Detailing all the books and their contents would be time consuming so instead the DM can give each one a series of categories and degrees of depth on the subject. 'Categories' These can be broad Knowledge categories like, “history”, “planes”, “geography”, or subcategories in each of the knowledge such as, “Hilsyren History”, “The Abyss” or “mountains” or even narrower categories (see the new Knowledge Skill rules for further examples. 'Quantity ' Each category has a number of books in that subject, with varied undefined information about them. Each quantity category of books allows a set number of rolls on the same subject (which takes the standard time listed below) using the Quality modifier for the group of books. A DM can do this with individual books having their each and own subjects and qualities (worthwhile with a small library of only a few tomes), but it is simpler to have group of books with the same category and quality to save time and cut down on record keeping. 'Category Quantity Size Table' • Single (1) 1 roll • Meagre (2 – 4) 2 rolls • Small (5 – 7) 3 rolls • Moderate (8 – 10) 4 rolls • Large (11 – 14) 5 rolls • Massive (15 – 19) 6 rolls • Enormous (20 – 29 ) 7 rolls • Vast (30+) 8 rolls 'Quality' Each group of books is defined by their quality of knowledge, providing a greater bonus on their reference checks (see below). Each book is given a general price but it is reasonable to assume that books on certain obscure subjects could be two or three times the price, of not more depending on the area it is bought. 'Book Quality Table' 'Quality Modifier Av. Price' • Pitiful -6 2 gp • Poor -4 10gp • Mediocre -2 50gp • Standard +0 100gp • Remarkable +2 300gp • Excellent +4 1,000gp • Outstanding +6 3,000gp • Unique* +8 10,000gp 'Initial Assessment of a Library' When you first encounter a library, unless it’s very organized, your own collection, or one someone is assisting you with, you won’t necessarily know what categories are available in the library, thus you may need to do an initial overview of the collection first. The larger the collection is the harder this is to determine. To do an initial assessment of what the library holds, (glancing at the spines, taking some out etc) you must make Perception check with a DC 10 + 1 for every 10 books. Every ten books take 1 minute to assess. You can do this in sections to make it easier. What you learn is based on how well you roll above or under the DC: 'Library Assessment Check Result' • DC +10 over All categories and their qualities* • DC +5 over All categories available, and highest quality* • DC +0 to 4 over Category in highest quantity, and two lesser • DC -5 below Three random categories • DC - 10 below Two random category *this information is only available if you have a rank in that category 'Languages' Books written in languages not spoken by the researcher are not added to any bonuses and not included in searches. If an appropriate translation spell is used that last for the required time, or you use the Linguistics skill to do an initial translation (taking the additional time that skill takes), then you can include them. If magic is used it will have to be used each time something is reference (see individual spell for details) 'Three Ways of Researching' 'Referencing (skilled)' If the subject you’re researching is a something you already have a Knowledge rank in, you may use the books to look up additional facts and aid you in your existing knowledge, conducting further research. In this case you are only skimming through the books and it takes only a quarter of the time to read the total number of books used. Each additional book in a group gives you a +1 to the research check modifier made at the end of the session. To may only use as many books as you can read on one session (usually an 8 hour day) but you may also use this do a prolonged skill check (see Skills) repeated below: ''Prolonged Skill Checks ''Some tasks you know you will never roll high enough to succeed but might need to. You can accomplish this with a prolonged skill check. • To do this there must be no chance of failure (as with taking 20) • It must be stated before you roll that you are doing this • This takes longer than usually depending on how well you are rolled • A DC must be set by the DM depending on what is trying to be accomplished • Two rolls of a DC 5 lower is a success • Four rolls of DC 10 lower is a success • Each roll takes twice as long as usual • A combination of either of the above are allowed (i.e. two rolls of DC 10 lower and one of Dc 5 lower) These rolls are only allowed on skills that can be developed over time (such as Craft {to make exquisite items}, Diplomacy {negotiations etc.}, Handle Animal {training}, Knowledge {long term research}, Linguistics {translations}, Perception {searching an area}, and any other the DM decides is appropriate). Searching (unskilled) Should you wish to research a subject you know nothing about (have no ranks in its Knowledge), you may simply look through the books and see what you find. This takes longer than just using them as reference as above, requiring half the normal time for reading the books in whole. With access to books on a subject usually requiring a trained only skill check, you may roll for the skill with a -4 penalty (only permissible with library access). Add the reference modifier of the books as usual. This can also be done if you do not know what category of knowledge you are looking into, say for example you are looking for a reference to a certain name with no idea where it is from. Of course you will still have to chose which books to look it, so may be rolling for a lot of those books which could take a lot of time. 'Full Read Through' Should you get the time you may wish to just read an entire book. Doing this requires an Int check to fully under stand and then gives you a temporary bonus to the Knowledge equal to half the reference modifier check for a time depending on the Intelligence roll: 'Read Book Memory' 'Check Result Memory Time' 0 – 4 Misunderstood (-2 on all related Knowledge checks) 5 – 9 Not absorbed 10 – 14 One day 15 – 19 One Week 20 – 24 One Month 25 – 29 Six Months 30+ One year 'Reading Time' The speed you read is based on two things; your Intelligence and your experience in reading. Use your Intelligence score modified +2 for every five ranks you have in appropriate skills or level is appropriate classes or prestige classes (as decided by the DM). In appropriate classes get a -2 or -4 to this, while ones like the barbarian cannot research with books because they are illiterate. 'Read Time Table' 'Intelligence Time to Read One Book Search Reference ' • 0 – 1 Cannot understand words - - • 2 – 3 96 hours (1 in12 days) 48 hours 24hours** • 4 – 5 48 hours (1 in 6 days) 24 hours 12 hours • 6 – 7 24 hours (1 in 3 days) 12 hours 6 hours • 8 – 9 16 hours (1 in 2 days) 8 hours 4 hours • 10 – 11 8 hours (1 in 1 day) 4 hours 2 hours • 12 – 13 6 hours (1.5 in 1 day) 3 hours 1.5 hours • 14 – 15 4 hours (2 in 1 day) 2 hours 1 hour • 16 – 17 2 hours (4 in 1 day) 1 hour 30 mins • 18 – 19 1 hour (8 in 1 day) 30 mins 15 mins • 20 – 21 30 minutes (16 in 1 day) 15 mins 8 mins • 22 – 23 15 minutes (32 in 1 day) 8 mins 4 mins • 24 – 25 8 minutes (60 in 1 day)* 4 mins 2 mins • 26 – 27 4 minutes (120 in 1 day) 2 mins 1 min • 28 – 29 2 minutes (240 in 1 day) 1 min 30 sec • 30 – 31 1 minute (480 in 1 day) 30 sec 15 sec *This is the maximum speed a book can be physically read in ** for awakened animals etc. 'Late Night Study' It is possible to stay up longer than the standard 8 hours for 2 more increments, and while not as tiring as forced marking, you still may fall asleep or become groggy and suffer penalties. Roll for Constitution once every 4 hours, DC 10 + 1 per previous hour. Failure once makes you tired (-2 to all mental rolls), failure twice puts you to natural sleep. If you are woken up during this sleep you can carry on with the same DC as before +2 and now very tired (-4 to all mental rolls, - 2 physical). 8 hours sleep restores this and you can start a new day, while 4 hours sleep and a Constitution check against the last DC rolled does the same. Failure on this sets the DC down to the start again and you must carry on making rolls after the first 4 hours. Books partially read through count towards the total research. 'Guide Books' The proper reference books can not only give you bonuses to knowledge skills, but also other practical skills as well, the right book can even allow you to try an untrained. You must read and understand the book first, requiring a DC 15 Intelligence check, DC 17 if it is a trained only skill. 'Writing Books' You my write a book with enough time, materials and a Knowledge check, the quality of the book depends upon your roll: 'TABLE RLG 1' • 0 – 4 Useless (cannot use) • 5 – 9 Pitiful (-6) • 10 – 14 Poor (-4) • 15 – 19 Mediocre (-2) • 20 – 24 Standard (+0) • 25 – 19 Remarkable (+2) • 30 – 34 Excellent (+4) • 35 – 39 Outstanding (+6) • 40+ Unique (+8*) You have assistants help you with this book as with the aid another rules. You may not use your own book to aid your research. 'Random Library Generator' Size of Library 'TABLE RLG 2' 01 – 19: 1d4 rolls on each table 20 – 69: 2d4 rolls on each table 70 – 90: 3d4 rolls on each table 91 – 00: 4d4 rolls on each table 'TABLE RLG 3' 01 – 09: Single 10 – 39: Meagre 30 – 54: Small 55 – 74: Moderate 75 – 89: Large 80 – 89: Massive 90 – 97: Enormous 98 – 00: Vast 'TABLE RLG 4' 1 – 3: Arcana 4 – 5: Arcana Subcategory 6 – 8: Arcana Specific Category 9 – 11: Dungeoneering 12 – 14: Dungioneering Subcategory 15 – 16: Dungeoneering Specific Category 17 – 19: Engineering 20 – 21: Engineering Subcategory 22 – 23: Engineering Specific Category 24 – 25: Geography 26 – 27: Geography Subcategory 28 – 30: Geography Specific Category 31 – 32: History 33 – 36: History Subcategory 37 – 39: History Specific Category 40 – 41: Local 42 – 44: Local Subcategory 45 – 47: Local Specific Category 48 – 50: Nature 51 – 53: Nature Subcategory 54 – 55: Nature Specific Category 56 – 57: Nobility 59 – 60: Nobility Subcategory 61 – 63: Nobility Specific Category 64 – 65: Planes 66 – 67: Planes Subcategory 68 – 70: Planes Specific Category 71 – 72: Religion 73 – 75: Religion Subcategory 76 – 79: Religion Specific Category 79 – 81: Tactics 82 – 84: Tactics Subcategory 85 – 86: Tactics Specific Category 87 – 89: Unusual 90 – 92: Unusual Subcategory 93 – 94: Unusual Specific Category 95 – 00: Fiction 'Language' TABLE RLG 5 (TO BE ADDED) 'EXAMPLE LIBRARY' Collection of “Alliaceous Wildacre”